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In Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), the strongest basketball teams in the world began on Friday the culmination of this season, the final of the world round.
December 18-19 For the first time, there were even two teams from Lithuania among the 12 strongest teams in the tournament. These are the old men of this game, the men of Šakiai “Gulbelė”, and this year the team of Utena “Juventus-Uniclub Casino”, who have entered the elite of 3 × 3 basketball.
The two Lithuanian teams met in the group competition stage. Lithuanians who competed in group C appeared differently: Juventus-Uniclub in the first match 21:16 defeated the New York Harlem basketball players, while Vytis lost to them after overtime 19:21. Gulbele mutual match 14:21 He did not face Juventus-Uniclub and finished his show in the tournament, while Utena’s players made it to the playoffs.
The quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals will take place on Saturday. Utena’s team will face the Amsterdam team in the quarter-finals on Saturday. The meeting will begin at 5 pm 15 minutes.
The Utensians attacked opponents in the opening minutes, as they scored 3 points in a row and led with confidence. Gulbelė relied more often on long shots that flew past, while Juventus-Uniclub attacked more often from closer range and forced opponents to fouls or score points.
However, midway through the match and Gulbele started attacking more frequently from closer range, the gap narrowed and after five minutes the teams were already separated by just 1 point (7: 8). This was followed by a better run by Utena’s team, who regained a solid lead in less than a minute (12: 8). Soon V. Šulskis scored a long shot and Juventus-Uniclub already led by 7 points (15: 8).
With a minute and a half to go, V. Šulskis hit another long shot, which already guaranteed Juventus-Uniclub first place in the group (18: 9). Although “Gulbelė” was still able to get close (14:19), a minute later I.Vaitkus stabbed a long shot and ended the match at 21:14.
Less than a month before the end of the world tour, Šakiai’s team learned that team leader Marijus Užupis had suffered a front cruciate ligament injury, and Gabrielius Čelka invited him.
Swan: Aurelijus Pukelis 9, Šarūnas Vingelis 4, Gabrielius Čelka 1, Paulius Beliavičius 0.
“Juventus-Uniclub”: Ignas Vaitkus 10, Vytautas Šulskis 6, Žygimantas Skučas 3, Gintautas Matulis 2.
On Friday, the first Lithuanians to step on the floor were the basketball players from Juventus-Uniclub Casino (12th place in the ranking), who 21:16 defeated Harlem (fourth place in the ranking).
In the first 2 minutes V.Šulskis scored 4 of the 7 points for Utena’s team and the Lithuanians had a minimal advantage (7: 6). A minute later, V.Šulskis quickly scored another long shot and the Juventus-Uniclub lead increased to four – 10: 6.
However, in the middle of the game, Harlem managed to not only reduce the delay, but also match the result after a sudden long pitch.
Utena’s team, led by V.Šulskis, withstood the pressure of the rivals and soon took the lead again at 15:12.
With just over 2 minutes to go, Vaitkus scored a long shot and Utena took the lead at 19:16 and controlled the match. Soon Šulskis scored his team’s tenth point and Utena’s team’s twentieth with a free kick, and Ž.Skučas corrected the inaccurate second free kick for a huge victory at 21:16.
In the 3×3 basketball round held in Doha on November 20, Utena had beaten the Harlem team 21: 8, which was also remembered by J. Skučas after this match.
“The last time we played with them there were three of them and they played terribly. Now the match was point to point, so it is a lot of fun to start the tournament with a win, ”Ž said. Skučas.
“Juventus-Uniclub”: V.Šulskis 10, I.Vaitkus 5, Ž.Skučas 4, G.Matulis 2.
“Harlem”: J.King 8, D.Seagers and D.Jones – 3 each, M.Esonwune – 2.
In Group D’s second game with Harlem, the Gulbele basketball players also tried their luck, losing the result after extra time. 19:21.
“Harlem”: Dominique Jones 8, Joey King 7, Marcel Esonwune 5, David Seagers 1.
Swan: Aurelijus Pukelis 7, Paulius Beliavičius 6, Šarūnas Vingelis 5, Gabrielius Čelka 1.
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